Last Thursday, world-rated Christian Mbilli continued his climb up the super middleweight ranks with a third-round TKO of the habitually durable Ronny Landaeta at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City.

Mbilli produced his fifth straight stoppage triumph and moved to 19-0 with 18 knockouts.

“It was a good win,” Mbilli told The Ring. “We really wanted a clean win. [I’m] very happy with my progress so far.”

The Cameroon-born fighter moved to France when he was very young and represented that country at the 2016 Olympics before turning professional in Canada.

He now feels that he’s put down a marker to the talent-laden 168-pound division.

“[We wanted] to show that we are part of the elite of the category,” said Mbilli, who became the first man to stop Landaeta. “To get the win inside the distance is perfect.”

The 26-year-old isn’t focusing on any particular opponent at this point: “The plans now are to get the best rankings to be able to face and beat the best of the category.”

His promoter, Camille Estephan of Eye of the Tiger Management, was pleased with what he saw and is bullish about the future.

“I describe him as a consummate pro – his performance was surgical,” said Estephan. “In the near and medium future, he will be ravaging the super middleweight division. We’re looking to bring him back in December.”

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @AnsonWainwright

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